1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display control apparatus and control method thereof, and a computer program.
2. Description of the Related Art
PCs and embedded devices have various user interfaces which provide many operation methods to users. For example, a remote controller for a TV broadcast recorder has numeric keys, cursor keys, and the like, and provides an operation method that allows the user to input a channel using the numeric keys and to select a menu using the cursor keys. However, although multiple user interfaces are provided, the user can only use a single user interface for one or a series of operations (problem 1).
Also, conventionally, only a routine operation sequence is provided for one or a series of operations, and the operability cannot be improved (problem 2).
Furthermore, since the user cannot select user interfaces used to input in correspondence with operations, he or she cannot perform operations intuitively (problem 3).
In order to solve these problems, the following techniques have been proposed.
To solve problem 1, a technique that allows the user to use multiple interfaces by switching interfaces used to input depending on areas on a screen has been proposed (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-89892). However, in this case, since the user interfaces are switched depending on the areas, the user may be confused when switching.
To solve problem 2, a technique that determines a user's record of operations as a user's learning level, and allows the user to change accessible functions in a UI displayed depending on the learning level has been proposed (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-281215). However, in this case, the user's record of operations cannot be used to improve the operability of the user interface.
To solve problem 3, a technique has been proposed (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-18487) which divides an electronic program guide into nine parts in correspondence with the numeric keys of the remote controller, and allows the user to efficiently narrow down programs that he or she wants to record by selecting the divided part using the corresponding numeric key, so as to allow an intuitive movement from the full guide into details has been proposed (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-18487). However, flexible operation is not possible in this case, because interfaces other than the number keys are not usable while the user is in the process of selection.